The Second Coming of Gluttony - Chapter 188

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 188. An Unexpected Mood Shift (3)

As his eyes blinked rapidly, the hazy world gradually sharpened into focus.
The first thing to come into view was a chest.
Not some modest covering, but bare skin—full, rounded breasts laid bare before his eyes.
And his nose….
Seol Jihoo, breathing in her scent without thinking, slowly and deliberately raised his gaze upward.
Pisora came into view above him, her face marked by drowsiness and irritation as she looked down at him.
“…There’s actually something I’ve been dying to ask you.”
Pisora spoke through a sleep-thick voice.
“Your face looks completely panicked, but you keep on sniffing. What exactly are you doing?”
It was only then that Seol Jihoo realized he’d been taking in breaths far deeper than necessary.
The excuse rose to his mind—’I happen to like the scent of roses’—but died before he could speak it.
“Ahhhhh!”
Seol Jihoo let out a scream and wrenched his upper body backward with all his strength.
He threw himself with such force that he actually rolled off the bed.
“Well, well.”
Pisora clicked her tongue, watching Seol Jihoo tumble onto the floor with arms flailing.
Thunk. His head struck the floor, and clarity snapped back into him.
Even in his panic, Seol Jihoo scrambled upright and reflexively patted down his own body.
…….
Why was he in nothing but his underwear?
His pupils began to quiver.
Seol Jihoo placed a hand over his chest and took a deep breath.
Calm down. Calm down.
After repeating this to himself several times, he spoke in a low voice.
“Explain.”
His tone carried grim resolve.
Pisora stretched out her left arm and yawned, tapping her lips with her right hand, before her expression shifted to one of exasperation.
“Explain what?”
“Everything. From beginning to end.”
“Ah, yeah. So you drank, blacked out, suddenly started crying, and puked all over me while I was helping you?”
“…What?”
“It’s not even funny. If you can’t drink, control yourself. You threw up everything you ate yesterday all over me—pork belly, soybean stew, rice, cold noodles… ugh!”
Pisora shuddered at the memory, bristling with fresh irritation, while Seol Jihoo glanced blankly around the room.
Indeed, there hung several articles of clothing neatly arranged on a rack.
“Honestly, people these days. I brought you to a Motel, put you to bed, washed your clothes clean and hung them out to dry—the least you could do is show some gratitude. Do you have any idea how many times I held back from just dumping you on the street?”
For Seol Jihoo, who had no memory of any of it, her words landed like a thunderbolt.
“But… sleeping in the same bed together is a bit….”
“What the hell!”
Pisora flared up suddenly.
“I didn’t know you were so heartless.”
“?”
“You think I wanted to sleep in the same bed? I was trying to stay separate.”
Her tone made it sound as though this was hardly her fault, and Seol Jihoo tilted his head in confusion.
“I put you on the bed and turned around, but you kept crawling back down to the floor and clinging to me. So I thought, ‘Oh, maybe he likes sleeping on the floor,’ and I went up to the bed—and then you scrambled right back up and plastered yourself against me. I tried wrapping myself up in the blanket and lying on the sofa to get some sleep, and there you came, trailing after me like a puppy, burrowing into me.”
…….
“And that’s not even the half of it. You’re not an infant. Why do you keep pressing your face against my chest? What, did you grow up without being loved? Or did some dead spirit that couldn’t get its fill of breasts attach itself to you? I swear.”
As Pisora rattled on, purging last night’s grievances in rapid succession, Seol Jihoo scratched his head.
“Well… I’m the middle child sandwiched between my oldest and youngest siblings… I didn’t get much love growing up….”
“Ah, so that’s it… I had no idea… Wait, why are you bringing that up now?”
Pisora’s eyes blazed as she glared at him.
Seol Jihoo let out an awkward cough.
“My memory’s a bit fuzzy.”
“I thought so. Stay right there.”
Pisora switched on her mobile phone and tossed it to him.
A video was playing on the screen.
— Ah! Why are you clinging so tight?
– Are you out of your mind right now? Hey. You’re not sleeping, are you? Open your eyes while I’m asking nicely.
– Get off me!
– This is driving me insane, seriously!
“Uh….”
Seol Jihoo, who had been staring at her with a face devoid of words, suddenly reached for his mobile phone.
He quietly pressed the delete button on the video, then set it down gently in front of Pisora, who stood with her arms crossed, her expression daring him to say something.
“I don’t know anything.”
“How does a person like this even exist!?”
Her angry voice cut sharply into his ears.
Seol Jihoo coughed meaninglessly once more.
“In any case, nothing happened, right?”
At his relieved tone, Pisora’s expression, which had been wide-eyed, suddenly turned peculiar.
“Why? Did you think I ate you or something?”
“What kind of—”
“It’s the opposite, actually. I’m the one who got eaten.”
“What did you say?”
Seol Jihoo started in alarm.
“No~. You kept pushing, so~. I mean, honestly, you’re not bad-looking or anything, and I hadn’t had a drink in so long, so my mood was good~.”
Pisora twirled the ends of her hair as she chattered on.
Seol Jihoo’s jaw dropped open.
“Anyway, you’ve got more stamina than you look, don’t you? The way you kept thrusting like some kind of beast was really intense. Ah, my stomach’s still churning from it….”
Pisora rubbed her lower abdomen while rambling, and when she caught sight of Seol Jihoo’s face, she burst out laughing.
“Oh! Your expression is priceless!”
Giggling, she kicked the blanket aside.
“See? That’s the reaction of someone with a girlfriend, and here you are.”
She bounced out of bed, stretching her arms without a shred of embarrassment.
“Oof. I’ll shower first. Let’s grab some haejangguk on the way out.”
“…Seriously?”
“Who knows~?”
Pisora shot him a sidelong glance with a sly smile, then sauntered into the bathroom, muttering loud enough for him to hear, “Ah~. Why does my whole body ache~.”
Splash—
Only after the sound of water began to pour did Seol Jihoo realize that Pisora had been teasing him.
‘This woman?’

“Urgh—.”
While eating bokneut-guk after leaving the motel, Pisora suddenly covered her mouth.
Seol Jihoo, who had been shoveling the broth into his mouth, looked up in surprise.
“What’s wrong?”
“…I’m not sure.”
Pisora lowered her hand from her mouth and tilted her head.
“Suddenly my stomach feels unsettled… Morning sickness, maybe? Well, come to think of it….”
‘Come to think of it?’
When Seol Jihoo glared at her, Pisora tapped the table and laughed brightly.
“Why? Can’t I feel nauseous?”
“Do you enjoy playing with people?”
“Yes. I’m enjoying it quite a bit. It really lifts my mood.”
Watching Pisora smile wickedly, Seol Jihoo showed clear signs of irritation.
And with good reason—he was genuinely irritated.
He understood she’d gone through an ordeal yesterday, but was she really going to take it out on him just because they’d closed one case?
Most of all, the fact that he was being pranked annoyed him beyond measure.
‘How dare she.’
Playing a prank on someone whose own reputation was built on pranking?
She’d see the true face of mischief before long—
Seol Jihoo drank down his bokneut-guk in one gulp, bowl and all, his mind made up.
After the meal ended, Pisora suddenly thrust her mobile phone at him.
“Put your number in.”
“Why do you need my number?”
“Well, you’ve been my employer for a few months now. I should at least have your number.”
“My number is… what was it again.”
As Seol Jihoo paused to think, Pisora’s eyes immediately narrowed.
But it wasn’t that he didn’t want to tell her—it was simply that the memory hadn’t surfaced at all.
He punched in the number with some uncertainty, and Pisora snatched it back with a comment about how expensive it seemed.
“How long before you’ll head back?”
“About a week, maybe?”
“Sooner than I expected. All right. Just message me before you go. I’ll send you a text, so make sure you reply.”
Pisora said her piece and turned to leave.
Seol Jihoo watched her receding figure, hand waving languidly as she moved away.
‘…Huh?’
He suddenly realized his mind had grown quiet and still, and his eyes widened.
He tilted his head back, shielding the pouring sunlight with the back of his hand, and saw a cloudless, brilliant sky.
‘Warm.’
Why was that?
His mood wasn’t entirely terrible.
He’d simply eaten a decent meal, bickered with Pisora, and slept deeply before waking.
Yet the unbearable loneliness he’d carried had lifted considerably.
It felt as though something hollow in his chest had been filled.
‘Well….’
Since it had come to this.
‘I should prepare a few things and head back.’
Seol Jihoo turned around with a lighter step.
‘I’ve even made a new friend.’
Though he didn’t notice it himself, a soft hum was already escaping from his nose.
His footsteps leaving the alley felt twice as light as they had yesterday.

The moment Seol Jihoo returned to his studio apartment, he wandered about, pacing from corner to corner.
His mobile phone was buried in the corner.
He plugged in the charger and pressed the home button, and found himself slightly startled.
He’d expected to find nothing.

[Did you get home all right? It’s Pisora.]

Starting from Pisora’s most recent message, there was quite a stack of unread texts and call logs.

[I heard you’ve woken up. How’s your body feeling?]
[It’s me. Heard you made it back to Earth. Get in touch when you’re better.]
[Missed call from….]

Yoon Seora, Kim Hanna, Call Keeper, and others.
And….
As he scrolled through the list, he found another message and stopped.
It was from family, and it had come quite some time ago.
“…….”
There were four messages in total, spaced out over several days.
As Seol Jihoo checked them one by one, he felt something unexpected stir within him.
The contact he’d longed for had finally arrived.
Yet his own response surprised him—it was measured, calm.
Gratitude and regret hadn’t vanished, but neither did he feel anxious or restless anymore.
There was no surge of anticipation, no flutter of excitement.
Only peace.
If he had to put it into words: ‘It’s finally here.’
Compared to the days when inexplicable dread made even checking his mobile phone feel unbearable, when he’d left it buried in the corner and refused to look at it, this was nothing short of a vast improvement.
‘That’s right. Creating the right environment matters too.’
Only then did such a thought occur to him.
Seol Jihoo gazed at the message for a long time before clicking the home button again.
He found a name in the contacts app and pressed the call button firmly.
Before the dial tone could even ring, he heard the call connect.
— Hello?
Seol Jihoo steadied his voice and opened his mouth.
“Hi. Mom. It’s me.”

Bang, bang, bang, bang!
The front door shook as though it might splinter.
Seol Jihoo had barely gotten his jajangmyeon halfway to his mouth when he called out, “The door’s unlocked!”, and it swung open. A woman with hair tied back in a topknot burst in, small boxes clutched in both hands.
She kicked off her heels as though casting off a curse, then stomped inside and hurled the box from her left hand at Seol Jihoo.
“I’m here.”
“What?”
Thwack.
The corner of the box caught Seol Jihoo at the temple, and his expression soured.
“Why are you hitting me?”
“Mother?”
Thwack. This time the box in her right hand found its mark.
“Mother?”
As he looked up, he saw Kim Hanna staring down at him, her eyes sharp and icy.
“Are you trying to get yourself killed? Do you have any idea what you’ve done to an unmarried girl?”
Seol Jihoo rubbed his head gingerly and sniffed the air.
A rich, savory aroma wafted from the grease-stained boxes.
Fried chicken, unmistakably.
“Wow. Where’d you get all this?”
Brightening up, Seol Jihoo pointedly ignored the box marked “Congee” and accepted one of the smaller ones instead.
Kim Hanna’s expression remained disapproving.
“…Shouldn’t you eat the congee first?”
“No thanks.”
Seol Jihoo pushed away his empty jajangmyeon bowl and shook his head as he opened the fried chicken box.
“I’ve eaten enough congee. Just looking at it makes me want to be sick.”
“Listen. You should at least appreciate the thought behind it.”
“No. The sight of it alone is enough to turn my stomach.”
“…Ugh. Then why did I bother buying it?”
Kim Hanna muttered under her breath, then glanced around the room and her eyes widened.
It appeared he’d ordered from a Chinese restaurant—and the number of dishes was staggering.
Two bowls of jajangmyeon, two bowls of jjamppong, two bowls of fried rice, one large platter of sweet and sour pork…
As Kim Hanna counted each dish, her exhaustion deepened, and she was further astounded to see Seol Jihoo taking a large bite of fried chicken.
“You… did you eat all of this by yourself?”
“Huh? Yeah.”
“Insane. Does it all fit in your stomach?”
“It went down just fine.”
As Seol Jihoo bit into the chicken deliberately, Kim Hanna let out a sigh.
“This doesn’t make sense… You’re not a Glutton Proxy or anything… This is suspicious. Did that goddess put some kind of mark on you?”
‘A mark?’
Unable to make sense of it, Seol Jihoo simply kept eating his fried chicken.
Watching the young man focus intently on his meal, Kim Hanna eventually sighed and sat down on the floor.
She’d been worried he might have developed War Syndrome.
But the way he was munching away hardly suggested someone who’d survived a terrible war.
“You seem better than I expected.”
“?”
“I thought you’d be lying around like a complete wreck.”
Seol Jihoo chuckled, his mouth quirking slightly.
He’d come close to that fate, but somehow the change of scenery had lifted his spirits.
And his appetite had returned because of it.
“Did you bring what I asked for?”
“I did bring it, but…”
Kim Hanna glanced toward her handbag and opened her mouth.
“What’s gotten into you all of a sudden?”
“What do you mean, gotten into me?”
“You said you’d handle it yourself. Why the sudden change? Did you get turned away the last time I did things your way?”
“That’s not it. I said I’d still accept your help.”
At Seol Jihoo’s words, Kim Hanna smiled bitterly.
Their conversation was talking past each other—the focal point of what they each meant had diverged.
In truth, to Kim Hanna, Seol Jihoo was a type of person impossible to pin down.
The reason being that he’d shine brilliantly in Paradise, only to become distinctly odd the moment he returned to Earth.
Especially when it came to family matters—he’d repeatedly demonstrated a tendency to burrow underground and hide.
That’s why I’d offered to take charge of family-related matters under guardian authority, but Seol Jihoo suddenly asked to cancel it.
He said he’d handle things himself and asked me to prepare whatever materials might be needed instead.
When I heard him request the materials in that calm, composed voice, I’d been skeptical.
‘He’s changed again.’
After the banquet ended long ago, I’d sensed some shift in him, but this war’s conclusion made it undeniable.
If Seol Jihoo existed separately in Paradise and on Earth, it was as though the radiance he’d shown in Paradise was slowly overlaying his earthly self.
I couldn’t yet judge whether this was a good thing or a troubling one….
But if that quality he possessed—the ability to solve difficult problems in Paradise—could somehow manifest here on Earth as well.
Then even the family troubles that seemed hopelessly tangled might find a way forward. That belief took hold of me strongly.

(To be continued)

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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